1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to conveyors and particularly, but not by way of limitation, to conveyors composed of linked modules.
2. Description of Related Art
A wide variety of conveyors are known in the art. For example, U. S. Pat. No. 4,729,469 issued to Lapeyre et al. discloses a flat top conveyor belt which comprises a number of flat top modules linked together by cross pins. In an alternate embodiment, some rows of the Lapeyre conveyor belt may have flights which are orthogonal to the flat top surface. As stated in the Lapeyre disclosure, the orthogonal flights are useful to support products when the conveyor belt travels along an inclined path.
Orthogonal flights are suitable for supporting a product when the product is traveling upward. Upon reaching the point of exit from the conveyor belt, however, flat top belts and belts with orthogonal flights tend to drop or even sling the product. If the product is crackers, potato chips, cookies or anything which tends to break or crumble, the dropping or slinging by the conveyor belt may easily damage the product.